Stuffing: Bread And Sausage

• servings: 8

Ingredients

1 (3/4- to 1-pound) round Italian loaf, cut into 1-inch cubes (8 cups) (24 cups for x 3) 3 long french baguettes make 24 cups. Get an extra 4th baguette and freeze the pieces for the Christmas Wife Saver.

2 tablespoons olive oil, divided

2 pounds sweet Italian sausage, casings removed, divided

1/4 lb unsalted butter, cut into pieces

3 medium onions, chopped

4 large celery ribs, chopped

5 garlic cloves, minced

4 large eggs, lightly beaten

3/4 cup heavy cream, divided

1/2 cup turkey giblet stock or reduced-sodium chicken broth

1 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano (2 ounces)

1/2 cup coarsely chopped flat-leaf parsley

Equipment: a 4-qt shallow ceramic or glass baking dish (14 by 10 by 2 3/4 inches)

2 cups roughly sliced mushrooms

sherry to flavour mushrooms

Directions

Preheat oven to 350°F (or use bottom middle aga oven) with rack in middle.

Put bread in 2 shallow baking pans/cookie sheets and bake, switching position of pans halfway through baking, until just dried out, about 10 minutes?

Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a 12-inch heavy skillet over medium-high heat until it shimmers, then cook half of sausage, stirring and breaking it into small pieces, until golden brown, about 6 minutes. Transfer with a slotted spoon to a large bowl. Brown remaining sausage in remaining tablespoon oil, transferring to bowl. (I use the top right aga oven and roast as much of the sausage as I can in one go)

Pour off fat (if any) from skillet and wipe clean. Heat butter over medium heat until foam subsides, then cook onions, celery, garlic, and 1/2 teaspoon each of salt and pepper, stirring occasionally, until golden, 12 to 15 minutes. Add vegetables and bread to sausage. (Again i roast the above in the top right aga oven)

cook mushrooms flavouring with sherry. Add to mix.

Whisk together eggs, 1/2 cup cream, turkey stock, cheese, and parsley, then stir into stuffing and cool completely, about 30 minutes. Reserve 5 cups stuffing to stuff turkey and spoon remainder into baking dish, then drizzle with remaining 1/4 cup cream. Cover stuffing and chill.

About 1 hour before turkey is finished roasting, bring dish of stuffing to room temperature. When turkey is done, increase oven temperature to 425°F and bake stuffing, covered tightly with foil, until hot throughout, about 20 minutes. Remove foil and bake until top is golden and crisp, about 15 minutes more.

Use the warming aga ovens to keep stuffing warm until ready

Notes

I sometimes will double the recipe at Thanksgiving and put half in the freezer for Christmas.

The original recipe suggest x 3 but that is ALOT of stuffing

Bread can be toasted ahead and kept (once cool) in a sealed bag at room temperature... or even earlier and put in the freezer.

If baking stuffing at the same time as potatoes, put stuffing in upper third of oven and potatoes in bottom third (allow extra time).